Getting out - crawlers part 1
by Awatere11
Summary: Ianto and Lisa head off for a camping trip, Yvonne happy to give them time off. Something goes wrong and Ianto tries to hunker down away from whatever started back in London as they were leaving. Before he was T3 so this will be a first time Janto story with evil sniggering as I try to scare you. Will be a series with under 10 chaps per installment. ALT VERSE
1. Chapter 1

1

"I'm sorry" he whispered, tears forming behind the mask and he struggled knowing he wouldn't be able to wipe his face if they fell, blood everywhere smeared on the protective clothing. The match wouldn't strike and he cursed softy trying another that finally flared.

Ianto stood in front of the pyre with his arms and back screaming, the effort of building it had been almost too much to bear. The weight of the body stripping what strength he had left and now as he watched it burn he knew his deed was far from over, sighing as he turned to stumble back to the house waiting silently like it was witnessing.

Finally Ianto found his hidden reserves and he entered to head for the cleaning supplies starting in the kitchen where it had all gone down, scrubbing silently. The only sound was of the brush going around in circles as he tried to remove any evidence of the death that had occurred.

He heard the clock out in the hall chiming four and he stood, looking at his work then he headed outside to the dying embers, shucking off the protective clothing to throw onto the fire then he headed to the sofa on the porch where he sat staring out into the dawning day.

Done.

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"A Tuesday, who ever heard of going camping on a Tuesday" Ianto complained as he glanced over at his companion, Lisa laughing as she adjusted her seatbelt and then reached out to play with the radio, knowing it would annoy him which it did. He hadn't wanted this time off, hadn't applied but she had, their boss happy to give it as it meant they would be back for the Christmas Watch when others would apply for their own time off. Just because they didn't have family didn't mean he didn't want Christmas… after all there was Rhiannon and her spawn. "And I was listening to that."

"No you weren't" she laughed, "You were mythering old man."

"How dare you, you insolent young pup" he snarled and they both laughed as she swung to check their gear in the back of the station wagon, Crypto wagging his tail as he looked up from the back seat. Ianto huffed and rolled his eyes some more then the traffic stated to move.

"Thank god" Lisa sighed. "I hate these snarls."

They were nearing the turn for the main road south when they saw the reason for the problem, a check point or something.

"Weird" Ianto muttered as he reached out to turn off the radio and Lisa stirred from her snooze in the seat beside him, yawning as she stretched and looked ahead.

"What is it babe?"

"Lisa!"

"Oh come on, stop begin so prim, I can call you babe, you are my babe. Get over it" she grinned as they came to the soldiers waving them down. Ianto found that weird too, why soldiers, not just Heddlu and he rolled down his window to smile politely.

"IDs and insurance. Where are you heading?" cane the demand.

Ianto now knew something was going on, asking for IDs, meaning both of theirs not just his as the driver. He reached for his wallet in the console between the seats as Lisa reached for her purse and the solder jammed a gun through the window. Ianto noted several things at once. The solider was shaking, the safely was off, Lisa was in the line of fire, the safety was off. Ianto reacted without thinking, seizing it and wrenching it away as he pushed the door open and slammed the soldier back, stepping out while holding the gun under the soldier's chin in a heartbeat, "What the fuck!"

"Hey, put that down" came a command as Lisa screamed and he looked out the corner of his eye at those advancing with rifles pointing at him.

"He drew on us, put a gun in my face for no reason" Ianto argued, "If you tried being fucking polite you might get somewhere but demanding at gunpoint is too much."

"Harding, did you use your weapon?" the CO demanded as he strode over, "How did this man get it?"

"IT was in my vehicle where he shoved it in my face" Ianto replied as he released the soldier who stumbled back, "He is going to kill someone the fucking safety was off."

"You know guns?" the CO asked as he turned to look at Lisa who was still clutching the dashboard in the passenger seat.

"I am reaching for my ID, this time no guns" Ianto said as he picked up the wallet that had dropped from his lap has he had exited the vehicle and he opened it to hand it the CO who looked at the official seal of Her Majesty's Secret Service and he sighed, nodding as Ianto flipped it shut.

"Green Beret?"

"Early retirement due to injury while in the field, yeah. Been in the other service for her" Ianto nodded, "We are just heading up the Brecon Barrens camping."

"Good time for it" the CO said softly, glancing nervously back at the column of vehicles, "Something bad is going down, like… red paper bad."

Ianto knew that term, the last emergency orders were printed on red, those destroy or flee ones. "Fuck."

"We might be mate. I suggest you get your bird as far from here as you can" he hissed before moving away, "we have a time limit before we start to shut it down."

Ianto tried not to show his horror at the term that meant those who didn't get through the cordon in time would be turned back…. To whatever they were unwittingly fleeing.

Ianto swung the wheel as they left the cordon and Lisa looked at him with surprise, "Babe, it's the other way."

"Not going there" Ianto said shortly, "We are heading somewhere else. Somewhere safe."

"Safe?" she frowned, "From what?"

"I don't know Cariad" Ianto hoped they never found out.


	2. Chapter 2

2

"Wye Valley?" Lisa said as the vehicle roared along now, Ianto putting as much distance between them and the soldiers as he could, the red paper comment far too scary for him to speak just yet.

"Didn't your Grandys live up this way?" she asked, "Rhiannon has been bleating for months about you two going to clean it out to sell it since your Nan finally passed. God, I wouldn't be surprised if she drove up here and smothered her will a pillow or something and you are the only thing ….IANTO!"

Ianto swung wildly to avoid the stock on the road and he swore as he hit the first cow, knowing the next one would soon follow, "Hold on love."

He swung the wheel so his side would take the impact and he let go of the wheel as the drift turned into an uncontrollable slam, the car jumping the dirt curb to end up down in the ditch with the dog yelping in the back with shock. Ianto let it continue into the nearby copse until it kissed a tree.

"Lissy?"

"Good"

"Fuck" Ianto looked at the console, then the fuel gauge that was low anyway. He had estimated that they might not make it to the house and now knew it was gonna be a hike.

"Is the car visible from the road?" he asked as he opened the back and release Crypto, then began pulling out their packs.

Lisa scrambled up the bank to the road and walked to where a vehicle would be driving past, looking down, "No. The scrub has closed over."

"Good, come on, we can hike the rest of the way" Ianto called back, "Will be there by dark."

"Good, I need to pee"" she called back as she slid down the embankment and laughed, bouncing over to kiss him then bounce into the bushes.

"Lissy, come on" Ianto sighed, annoyed once more. Their relationship had been strained lately, her childish ways and repeated shrugging off anything he wanted to do had started to grate. Like this weekend away, she planned their life like he was some sort of bloody pushover. He loved her. He knew he loved her but… after discovering that she had been secretly texting another man he had started to see that she did not love him the same.

Of course she denied it, then when faced with the facts had wept and told Ianto is was his fault for being too wrapped up in his work. Of course she got him the spot at her work, somewhere that both excited and terrified him, then she wangled him a spot on her floor. He now saw that her manoeuvring had all been for her own gain, not his. Her boss loved Ianto and his edidic memory, his acidic wit and especially his coffee. The hand on his butt had been the last straw as he knew he had to tell her that he was going to quit, no matter what it meant to their relationship.

She knew he hated tents yet had decided a camping holiday in the fucking wilderness might save this?

As if hearing his thoughts she stopped shucking on her pack to look at him with silent question.

"Let's go" he finally said, moving towards the outcrop on the horizon and the homestead beyond. Lisa stood watching him and the dog running ahead to pee on things then she sighed knowing what he had been thinking about, and she wished she could take it back.

The affair.

Of course he knew.

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Dawn lit the sky with such a glorious display that it took his breath away. He smiled softly as he revelled in it, like a fire cleansing and wiping clean. The cleaning cloth of the gods.

Crypto padded into sight, the rabbit in his jaws welcome and he found a catch in his throat that even in the moment when he thought here were fates worth than death such a small thing might rouse him again.

Ianto rose to his feet and let his eyes search the dog for any sigh of injury and was satisfied by his easy gait and white unblemished fur that he had not met anyone this night, stepping aside as the dog entered the house with his offering.

"Come on boy, I'll make us a nice stew with this. You want that beef bone in the fridge?" Ianto pulled open the old decrepit refrigerator that was humming away, flicking a beef bone with meat still on it at the dog who caught it and padded off to eat.

That roast was only a few days old but he knew he couldn't eat it now, might never eat roast beef again.

Ianto shook himself and he started to gut the rabbit, careful to place its innards in a bowl to burry later.

Another fucking day had begun.

He wondered if there was any point.


	3. Chapter 3

3

They had arrived just on dark and Ianto lifted the flower pot in amongst the myriad of pots, the one with his own handprint on it from when he was a child. The key was where it always was and he opened the door to let them in, looking back in the direction they had come to see something that terrified him.

The glow.

London was on fire?

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Ianto knew he needed more wood so he put that on today's list of To Dos and pulled a warm jacket on, hesitating as he felt in the pocket and removed a woodman's hat.

Grandy.

He looked at the hat for a few moments, taking the time to remember the old man shoving it on his head in play and then with a lump in his throat he placed the hat of his dead grandfather on his own head, hoping some warmth might come from within as well. He opened the door and Crypto exploded out with glee, racing to pee like he had been trapped for hours. Mad bastard.

Ianto felt snow coming, knew he had little time before the winter was here so he walked briskly to the barn where the ATV waited with its trailer unit attached. He checked the fuel even though he knew it would be full, the old man always refilled it after use, and then he fired it up. Crypto jumped onto the trailer like he was surfing, barking as Ianto drove out into the light and along the track to the trees where several downed trunks were already in various stages of being cut up for the fire.

Grandy had cut them into large rounds, like cutting bread into slices and he knew that since his Grandy had been dead nigh on a year this had been last fall's prep. He started carrying the huge rounds to the trailer and stacking them while leaving room for the mad dog's surfing then whistled for said mad bastard when he was done, sweaty and dirty. Hungry.

They powered home and he drove to the back of the house where he stood on the trailer to push the rounds off, each one making a satisfying thunk that told him they were not rotten, nice and dry. Ready for splitting.

Only problem was, it meant using that getting that axe still imbedded in the staircase inside.

Damn.

He had forgotten about that.

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Lisa was unpacking the food from their packs as Ianto checked the pantry, glad to see most of it all still there. He had asked their neighbours to come take what they needed when she had died of course. All the perishables gone and he was glad it had been taken, they elderly couple keeping an eye on the pace from time to time and he made a mental note to go visit them tomorrow to let them know he was there, for now he was glad his hunch was right and they had enough to last a while. Nainny was good at hoarding food, her crazy Zombie Apocalypse beliefs a comfort now.

"Ianto?"

He revisited the urge to snap, turning to find her holding a container of his favourite blend, "I thought we agreed no caffeine this weekend?"

He counted in his head before answering, "No. You said so, I decided no. I want my coffee."

She snorted and started to walk towards the sink and he git a sudden notion of her intent so he surged forward to seize her wrist, "You tip that out and I will fucking kill you. I swear to god I will cleave your skull. I can take a lot form you but that is a step too far."

"Ianto" she breathed with shock, "Sorry, I was just playing."

"Playing" he repeated, "Something is going down, something our pagers would have probably called us in for if we were close enough for cell coverage and you want to fucking play?""

"Come on, it's another exercise. You know how she is" Lisa sighed, "Let go."

"One day Lisa I will let go and it will not be nice, please stop. You push and push and…" Ianto stopped talking as he turned to walk away and she placed the container down as she watched him go.

"Ianto" she called out, "Come on."

Ianto raised a hand to show her how long his middle finger was and he stood on the porch watching that faint glow with a sickening reality. It was definitely still burning. How long did it take?

Had it happened?

He glanced inside and then furtively pulled his pager from his pocket to look at the distress number on it.

It made a satisfying crunch under the heel of his boot, then he went in to find hers. Removing the battery might do it.

They were not going back.

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Hi Guest. No I am not bored with my other stories, I sometimes get a block where I have a chapter where I want a story to go but those bridging chaps are almost imposible to create to make it all flow. Instead of doing nothing but chewing on it, I will start another project to release the tension, then go back and see where I was going wrong. This is a therapy story, one where i can ignore the story that is pissing me off. Why I also intend doing it in short bursts. Hope this entertains everyone as much as it shakes my cobwebs loose. I actiallu have three segments alrey written, this something i have been doing on occasion while trying to get Kara Verse to work. I get a bit excited about the action then had to work out why she was beating the snot out of someone LOL


	4. Chapter 4

4

Ianto stared at the phone he had found along with the pager and after an internal battle he sat on the edge of the bed and turned it on.

He took two goes to get her password, of course he would guess it and was slightly insulted that it was something as easy as her mother's birth date.

Hartman had been demanding their return due to an 'Event' and he quickly dismissed that one, deleting it before she saw as he knew she probably would want to go back, arse kisser.

Seems Malcolm was still in her contacts so it was also a simple thing to look at their conversation feed, their texts and shared photos…kisses…body parts…. Ianto relocked the phone and placed it back in her bag, the pager not a problem now as this new one was soooo much better. Never mind the elephant in the room, a fucking T-Rex was rampaging.

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Crypto was making short work of the left over casserole, Ianto's spoonful on his toast more than enough as he found he had little appetite these days.

He wiped his fingers on the leg of his jeans and sighed, looking to the west and the other house of the elderly neighbours. He still had a mess there too I guess, god but the fun never ended.

Ianto let the dog have his plate, leaving it on the floor for him as he rose and walked outside to consider if he should use the SUV or walk. He didn't know how much more fuel there was available and he knew he should start to ration but damn, this was going to be more work he didn't need.

Walking to the barn he remembered the elderly couple had their own little dune buggy thing they often came to visit in and he knew he would be walking there. If there was no fuel he would simply be walking home again but hopefully they had spare fuel too.

Gotta get their little windmill for the extra power too.

Did they have solar panels last time too? Gotta check that.

Ianto slid his feet into his boots and then sat to do them up before calling the Mad Bastard. He walked to the end of the lane and stalled, cursing as he looked back towards his house then he turned and walked back to the garden table that stood by the side of the house, near the pyre remains. He poked at the things there he had removed from pockets and found what he needed, pocketing the keys and then turning to walk once more along the little goat's path to his neighbours.

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"Come on, let's go" Lisa repeated as she jiggled on the spot, something that he hated. God, he hated a lot these day didn't he?

"It's only early and we still don't know…"

"That radio will not tell us anything if it's alien and you know it. A weather storm or some bullshit will be the official word. Come on, we came to hike, even if I wanted BB, now come on. Let's bloody go already!"

Ianto was about to reply when he heard a motor and her smile faded as she scrambled up the steps to disappear inside. Yeah, cheers. Ianto sighed and stepped off the pourch to trun and see a little dune buggy style vehicle that may have once been a car with it's roof long since cut off and the two people in it had matching goggles on.

"Mister and Missus Simms" he called out with relief as the elderly neighbours came to a halt and waved as they both gingerly removed themselves from their bumpy yet sturdy transport.

"Ianto lad, wondered if it was you when we saw lights on last night" the old man called, "You remembered where the solar switch was?"

"Yes sir, thank you" Ianto replied as Lisa slid from the house to peek around the veranda post, "Lisa and I arrived last night."

"Ah, Ms Hallett. Long time no see" Mr Simms said politely, the smile leaving his eyes as their last encounter had been… embarrassing for all concerned as she drank too much mulled wine and tried to attack Ianto in front of his entire family, including his Grandy's cousin and wife here.

"Hello" she said softly, "Yep, still here."

"Well, such a carry on" Mrs Simms sighed as she looked at the sky, "Whatever this viral outbreak is, it seems to have shut the city down. I think it's something in the drinking water. Ginny and the kids have just left for the pool, came by for a couple of days. One of them had terrible bloody teeth, it obviously didn't help him any, this fluoride thing."

Mr Simms laughed as he pulled the keys from the ignition and jingled them in his hand, the rabbit's foot bouncing.

"Too much bloody fluoride in the water, didn't I tell you mother?" he scolded, "Dangerous to play with things like that."

She rolled her eyes as she shook her head at Ianto "Had a terrible flu too, glad we didn't catch it."

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It was a nice day, the walking calming as Ianto looked up at the sky and pondered the snow, it might only be a week or so away if the crispness in the air was anything to go by. At least it would mean he could tell himself to rest once he was forced to.

Crypto was at the door to the house waiting when he got there, probably having peed on as much shit as he could find and Ianto sighed as he put his hand in his pocket and removed the keys, the rabbit's foot swinging against the wooden door and the long since dried blood on the fur was the same colour as the red paint.

Ianto went inside and told himself to stop thinking of such things.

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For those of you asking Jack does come in part 2 ... you know you can't contain him .. nobody puts baby in the corner. LOL


	5. Chapter 5

5

Ianto needed to scrub this house too, no need for a pyre here at least and he also managed to gather a lot of food that would be awesome. He went in search of the buggy and was pleased to find it sitting next to a portable fuel tanker. Winner, winner chicken dinner.

Crypto found some chickens to chase actually so chicken dinner was really on the cards if he found where the coup was. Ianto rose to go hunt them down and sighed as he wondered how long the food was going to last.

He drove back home with a heavy heart and a yowling cat in a box as he left the house behind him burning, hoping the smoke didn't attract anyone … or anything out there in the wilds.

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"Ianto?"

He knew that tone and thought it best to ignore it as he helped Mr Simms load the stock feed onto the little trailer their buggy had been pulling.

"Thanks boy, my load was going to arrive later this week but with everything happening I don't think it will get here now" the old man smiled as he patted Ianto's' shoulder, "Good man your Grandpa. All this stockpiled and we wind up with his stock. Your Nain was going to arrange for us to buy it for a measly sum, we were still arguing a higher price. You know she would have given it to us for free if she could have got away with it but that sister of yours…"

"IANTO!"

He sighed as he knew he couldn't ignore her anymore, "Yes love?"

"Things are getting worse, total lockdown, nothing in or out of all major cities. We do have enough right? I mean…" she looked at the elderly couple with obvious intent.

"We have enough feed here to last four or five years with the few sheep and single milking cow and it will have all rotted by then Lis. Why they are taking it, they already were while Nainny was here." Ianto tried to explain smiling as he spoke, "It's no big deal love, besides. They brought fresh eggs for those omelettes you love."

Her face lit up as she saw the tray of eggs and she snatched it up, "I'll put that inside."

The old man turned to regard the boy he had known his entire life, "when are you gonna flick her to the side boy?"

Ianto grimaced, "She says she's preggers"

"Bullshit, she says she wants to trap you a bit longer until she does fall, bet there's no protection right?" he hissed, "Then she will try to have a wee miscarriage once the ring's on her finger? Followed by a real one? Bet you and her are a nice match at work … does she have another on the side yet?"

"Keb, you are a cold bastard" Ianto said even as he smiled to show he knew he was probably truthing, her drinking not curbed one little bit and as she had admonished a work college for drinking when pregnant he was pretty sure this was a bluff like he was guessing.

Still.

He hated confrontation.

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He was half way back when he saw it and he slowed the buggy to scoop it up, the little shoe that he had been unable to find and he let the buggy coast to a stop as he started to cry.

This had been the hardest of all.

They had been like extra grandparents, their daughter a childhood friend but… the one she had left behind with her parents for the weekend…this little one had been just a baban no more than two.

Ianto had found her gone already, not from his bullets but from what he had been shooting at in the darkness as he screamed with pain and fear, this little shoe missing until now. Poor little thing must have run when they were attacked, her grandparents searching after the initial wave thinking it was all over. Leading _them_ over to his house instead so it all came to a head in the front yard.

He couldn't leave it.

It was a little white shoe with a bright gold buckle.

He placed it on the buggy's spare seat and Crypto leaned in to sniff it then dismiss it as he scanned the fields around them, uneasy with the lack of movement.

He was right.

Not good to be caught out here with your dacks down.

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Lisa had followed him inside, the old couple leaving with cheerful calls that had him watching out the kitchen window even as he felt her impending argument.

"I want to go back" she said defiantly, "Yvonne is demanding all agents return to the tower."

"We are outside the zone" Ianto replied "We will not get in"

"We show our credentials" she said and he was ready, taking a deep breath to steady himself before answering.

"We don't have any."

"Don't be stupid, we have our IDs, we always do. You showed them to get out" she pointed back behind her like the roadblock was just down the road, not a day's drive away.

"That was then."

"What the hell does that mean?"

Ianto knew it was going to cause an explosion but he was strangely detached as he answered "I burnt them when we got here, they helped cook your dinner. We have a baby to think about, I have to keep you both safe."

She ran back upstairs to upend her purse and he settled with a strange glee.

Wait until she learns that the cell phone doesn't work for sending messages either.

She would never find the jammer.

She didn't even know he had one.

Just like he knew there was no baban … like she would soon tell him everything to make him let her leave alone.


	6. Chapter 6

6

"What do you mean … no baby?" Ianto tried to look confused, "You said…"

"Ianto I'm not. I got my monthly this morning" she even slumped like it was sorrowful to her.

"I'm not leaving" he repeated, "If you want to leave… OK. Take the car .. .oh no wait… It's fucked."

She glared at him. Then glanced at the shed.

"Not enough fuel in the ATV" he said as he guessed her intent, "Maybe the Simms can lend you something, I think they have Grandy's truck, we can go check after the meal."

She smiled as she agreed and they did walk the twenty minutes to the house to find the truck was currently not there, their daughter and two oldest children had borrowed it.

"She's back tomorrow love" Mrs Simms smiled as she placed the teapot down, "We have little Millie until then as she still has the grizzles."

Ianto was cuddling the little girl as Lisa tried not to grimace, the snotty face as appealing as a cow turd. God she never wanted one of those.

Ianto recognised that too.

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Ianto whistled as he started up the steps, flicking the little shoe onto the table with a practiced wrist snap and Crypto barked to say he was not really interested.

Ianto smiled, a rare pleasure as he carried the box up and closed the door to the bedroom and then walked to the second small room that had been a nursery once upon a time before his Mama was grown and gone to let the room become a walk in wardrobe come whatever.

"Come on Lucifer" Ianto said as he opened the box to release the little black cat who glared at him before peeking out to survey the room then with a withering look he settled back in the box.

"I don't blame you mate, I don't like it out here either" he soothed, stroking the cat before rising and closing the door on his way out. A couple of days and the poor thing might forgive him.

Someone has to… after all he will never forgive himself.

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"Ianto, something is out there"

He grunted as he rolled from the bed he had not long since crawled into and he looked out the window with growing alarm, the homestead for the Simms barely a blip in the dark, all lit up and then he heard it.

"Shotgun"

He pulled on his pants and reached for his own gun on the wardrobe, "Lock the door behind me."

"Why can't I come?"

"Lisa, you might not want to stay but someone else might want this place instead. What if this is another group wanting somewhere to dig in?" he hissed, annoyed as he watched her wriggle into his bed.

He snorted and left her there hoping the truck would be back in the morning and she could leave, his need to protect her strangely absent since her admissions.

He jogged towards the homestead and then slowed as he heard something that chilled him to the bone.

That scream could not be human.

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Ianto was tired, bone weary and he knew there was still more to do.

"Tomorrow" he told the empty house, "We will finish it tomorrow"

He made a bowl of porridge and ate a few mouthfuls before placing it down for the excited dog then he headed up to the room he had been sleeping in, staring at the bed she had wriggled into when he had exited it and he found the socks he had been looking for, walking across to his Grandy's room where he let the dog in before closing the door and opening the middle door so the cat could come cuddle if he had forgiven him yet.

He settled knowing sleep would probably not come.

Not now nightmares are real.

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The scream came again, this time to his left and he knew there was more than one, his eyes adjusting to find something running away so he lifted the gun and fired off his own shots into the air.

"Ianto?"

"Are you OK?" he called back and he raced for the swinging torch.

"They came out of nowhere, after the livestock I think. Jesus wept, did you hear the noises they were making? What the hell, did you see what they were?" he was speaking in a rush, his hands shaking, "I think I got one by the barn."

They moved in that direction and soon found a blood trail, following it to a body slumped in the long grass.

They both stood staring at it with confusion, especially at what appeared to be the remains of a floral dress all torn and dirty like an animal had been placed in it and then released. They looked at one another and then Ianto handed his gun to the old man who was trying to hold the torch steady and reached out to roll the thing over.

The cry was definitely human as the old man looked at the remains of his daughter, her inhuman features weird and alien to look at with her lips and nose long since torn away and the snarl through the black torn skin sickening.

"What the hell" Ianto said with horror, "What happened to her?"

Nearby two howls started and Ianto knew before he looked up at his old friend that they were likely to be the two grandchildren that had left with her for the jaunt. He saw from his friend's horrified face that he had come to the same conclusion.

Whatever she had become, they had as well.

What had they come on contact with?


	7. Chapter 7

7

Ianto woke to warmth, wonderful warmth as the dog and cat cuddled into the quilt he had pulled up in the night.

He yawned as he stretched and then sighed, his bladder asking to come out and play so he wriggled out like a worm from a dirt mound, the giggling starting as the dog and cat played dead, unable to give him even a little help.

He padded out to the bathroom and sighed as he let his bladder empty itself, his morning woody a surprise as well.

Not dead then.

He stretched and then headed down to poke the fire in the old wood stove, glad to find some embers in the fire box and he soon had a warm kitchen.

"Porridge next I guess."

He made some and the thumping behind him was clearly a tail. He placed the bowl down and watched the dog rush to happily tuck in, then he headed out to check the stock that were free ranging happily. Happily, like the world was not ending. Well. Maybe not for them anyway.

He pulled some carrots from the garden, then walked across to the herbs and plucked some thyme. Chicken for tea?

He walked back towards the back door and heard something in the breeze that made him hesitate and look back out across the waving grass.

Was that a gunshot?

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Ianto moved quickly in the direction of the one he had seen, felling it as it came at him and he swallowed as he found it had been the little boy, the other boom of a shotgun had him running as he swore wishing he had put both kids down. Not fair the old man had to…. Fuck.

The little girl wasn't dead, choking and dying in the light of the front door, lying on the porch in her grandmother's arms as the poor woman screamed with grief.

"Fuck" Ianto spat.

"Did you…"

"Yes" Ianto nodded sadly, "Done."

"Fuck. Like her?"

"Changed. Not… Look, I think we should look at this like… these are not them. These are copies or… once were. Wearing them like skins maybe?" Ianto tried to reason it out, "No recognition, no control. Nothing human except the skin so… a virus that controls them or an alien intervention that take over their brains maybe."

"Aliens?"

"I work for Torchwood, we deal with alien invasions and such and believe me, they are here" he sighed, "Lisa and I are in the upper levels of Torchwood. We have spoken with them, worked with them, killed them. These were not your family, just something that copied them. I have to say, hopefully they died quickly at the moment of being taken."

Ianto didn't know if it were true or not, he was just saying it for comfort and the old man knew even as he nodded his agreement for his poor wife who stroked the hair off her grandchild' face.

"Bloody Torchwood. You think?"

"Yes. The real problem is the fact that if these are here, how many more are there?" Ianto asked as he suddenly remembered Lisa.

He tuned to look back towards his house when he heard a question he didn't like.

"Has anyone seen the Baban?"

.

.

.

.

Ianto ran for the back door where he removed the shotgun he had left against the wall and he walked out to stand, watching the plume of dirt showing a vehicle coming fast towards him.

No.

Next door's dying smoke had been seen as he had feared it might be. Ianto sighed as he saw it though the binoculars, recognising it as it's black paintwork flashed through the trees lignin the road and bounced past not even knowing he was there.

Torchwood Three, Cardiff.

He lowered the binoculars as another thought occurred, what were they shooting at?

He went in and locked the door, then headed up to check all the doors and windows.

Finally he sat on the porch to wait for what he knew would come like it or not.

They would see the track between the houses in no time.

Time to meet the neighbours.

,

,

,

,

So ends the first instalment … the next one will obviously bring Jack to the game. And I know you all want to 'see' Lisa's death.


End file.
